Team USA Weekend Preview: Feb. 1, 2013

Erin Hamlin competes during the luge women's singles at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games at Whistler Sliding Centre on February 16, 2010 in Whistler, Canada.

If it’s fast, downhill and on ice, it’s likely having a world championship this weekend. That’s the case at least for bobsled/skeleton, luge and alpine skiing. Several other sports — both winter and summer — have competitions going on throughout the world this weekend. Check out the Team USA Weekend Preview for all the details.

LUGE

FIL World Championships, Feb. 1-2, Whistler, Canada

Chris Mazdzer, a 2010 Olympian who is ranked No. 17 in the World Cup standings, and Taylor Morris will go after podium finishes Friday when the World Championships begin on the 2010 Olympic Winter Games course in Whistler, B.C.

Also Friday, two U.S. teams will compete in doubles: Matt Mortensen and Preston Griffall, and Jake Hyrns and Andrew Sherk.

Two-time Olympian Erin Hamlin, the 2009 world champion, will chase after gold in the women’s competition Saturday. She is ranked seventh in the World Cup standings. Also racing are 2010 Olympian Julia Clukey, Emily Sweeney and Kate Hansen.

“Really, all I have been doing is trying to get relaxed and a little fine-tuning here and there,” Hamlin said of her training runs this week. “It is probably going to be a pretty tight race. But overall, I always love being in Whistler.”

Defending world champion Steven Holcomb and his USA-1 push crew of Steve Langton, Justin Olsen and Curt Tomasevicz will slide Saturday morning in the first two heats of the four-man bobsled competition. The final two runs will be Sunday. The crew has a pair of silver medal finishes among its World Cup performances this season.

Holcomb and Langton finished fourth in the two-man bobsled held last weekend.

Nick Cunningham will pilot USA-2. Andreas Drbal, Adam Clark and Chris Fogt are on his crew. In USA-3 are pilot Codie Bascue and crew members Jesse Beckom, Johnny Quinn and Nic Taylor.

The men’s skeleton will finish up Saturday. Matt Antoine, who earned a bronze in St. Moritz last season, and John Daly will slide for the United States.

Two-time Olympian Lindsey Vonn, whose world championship medals include two golds in 2009 and a downhill silver in 2011, and Ted Ligety, the defending world champion in men’s giant slalom, are part of a strong U.S. Ski Team at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Schladming, Austria.

After the opening ceremony Monday, the competition opens Tuesday with the women’s super-G. The men’s super-G will be held Wednesday.

The 19-member U.S. team also includes teen sensation Mikaela Shiffrin, who won bronze earlier this week at a World Cup event in Moscow. She is the World Cup points leader in women’s slalom. Vonn and Ligety were among the U.S. skiers who skipped the Moscow competition to instead concentrate on preparations for the world championships. U.S. medalists in World Cup events this season also include Alice McKennis, Julia Mancuso, Stacey Cook, Leanne Smith, Steven Nyman and Marco Sullivan.

“This is a special group of athletes who have worked incredibly hard with this staff to be in a position for success at these world championships,” said Patrick Rimi, U.S. Ski Team Alpine Director. “Whether it was training in the summer at the Center of Excellence in Park City, on snow at the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center at Copper Mountain or at our European base in Soelden, each one of these athletes has put in the effort to do something special in Schladming.”

Olympic gold medalist Hannah Kearney led a U.S. women’s sweep of the podium Thursday on the opening day of the Visa Freestyle International in Deer Valley, Utah. Heather McPhie won silver and Eliza Outtrim earned a bronze medal in moguls. It was just the second women’s sweep of the medals in U.S. history. Patrick Deneen won bronze in the men’s competition.

“This clean sweep proves how hard we train and how talented our team is. This should be happening more often,” Kearney said.

The event continues Friday with aerials. Saturday, the double moguls will be held.

Sean Doherty became the first athlete in U.S. Biathlon history to win three medals at a world championship when he earned a silver for medal No. 3 in the U-19 12.5-kilometer race at the IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Obertilliach, Austria. Doherty helped the United States place ninth in the U-19 men’s relay event Thursday. The U.S. women were 13th.

The junior worlds wrap up Friday with the U-21 men’s and women’s relays.

Jordan Holm, a runner-up at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, struck gold Thursday in Greco-Roman at the Dave Schultz Memorial International Championships. He won by injury default over Danyal Gajiyev of Kazakhstan in the 84 kilograms (185 pounds) weight class. John Wechter also medaled on the opening night of the tournament at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, placing second at 96kg.

Women’s freestyle 2012 world champions Elena Pirozhkova (63kg) and Adeline Gray (67kg), and 2005 world champion Iris Smith (72kg) will compete Saturday. Pirozhkova was a first-time Olympian in 2012. Tervel Dlagnev (120kg) of the United States, a 2009 world bronze medalist, will compete Friday in men’s freestyle.

Webcast: themat.com

FENCING

FIE Grand Prix, women’s saber, Feb. 2-3, Orleans, France

Mariel Zagunis, who is the world’s top ranked fencer in women’s saber, will defend her 2012 title in the FIE Orleans Grand Prix tournament this weekend in Orleans, France. Zagunis, who has won two gold medals in three Olympic Games, finished fifth in her 2013 World Cup debut last week in London.

Also in fencing:

FIE Grand Prix, men’s and women’s foil, Feb. 2-3, Gdansk, Poland

FIE Grand Prix, men’s and women’s epée, Feb. 2-3, Budapest, Hungary

Junior World Cup, men’s and women’s sabre, Feb. 2-3, Chandler, Ariz.

Junior World Cup, men’s and women’s epée, Feb. 2-3, Goteborg, Sweden

Junior World Cup, women’s foil, Feb. 2, Lyon, France

European Cadet, women’s and men’s epée, Feb. 2-3, Goteborg, Sweden

Regional Youth Circuit, Feb. 2, Beaverton, Ore.

SNOWBOARDING

Sprint U.S. Grand Prix, Jan. 30-Feb. 2, Park City, Utah

Olympic champion Kelly Clark won her heat in qualifying Wednesday, and two-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White placed second in the men’s competition as both advanced to Friday’s finals of the halfpipe in the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix. X Games medalist Arielle Gold also won her heat and advanced to the finals.

The halfpipe skiing finals will be Saturday at the Park City Mountain Resort.

Lana Gehring and J.R. Celski, the 2013 U.S. Short Track national champions, will lead a U.S. team of 12 to the fifth Short Track World Cup of the season this weekend in Sochi, Russia. The event is a test event for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

Webcast: 6 a.m. ET Saturday, universalsports.com

TENNIS

Davis Cup, U.S. vs. Brazil, Feb. 1-3, Jacksonville, Fla.

Olympic doubles gold medalists Bob and Mike Bryan, along with John Isner and Sam Querrey will play for the United States in its Davis Cup first-round match this weekend in Jacksonville, Fla. The action begins Friday at Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum.

Isner, coming back from a knee injury, is ranked No. 13 in the world. He’ll face Brazil’s Thiago Alves, ranked No. 145 in the world, on Friday. Querrey, ranked No. 22, will face No. 33 Thomaz Bellucci. The top-ranked Bryans will play Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares on Saturday.

If the United States defeats Brazil, it would face Serbia or Belgium in the quarterfinals in April.

CYCLING

UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, Jan. 29-Feb. 3, Louisville, Ky.

Katie Compton, the World Cup overall points champion, and Jeremy Powers, who is ranked No. 11 in the men’s rankings, will be among 12 U.S. elite riders chasing after podium finishes in the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships at Eva Bandman Park in Louisville, Ky.

Joining Compton in the elite women’s race Sunday will be Georgia Gould, Meredith Miller, Amy Dombroski, Kaitlin Antonneau and Jade Wilcoxson. Joining Powers in the elite men’s race will be James Driscoll, Tim Johnson, Jonathan Page, Daniel Summerhill and Ryan Trebon. Other top U.S. riders include Zach McDonald in the U-23 men’s race Saturday and Logan Owen in junior men.

The worlds are being held outside of Europe for the first time in nearly 50 years. Louisville also was host earlier this week to the UCI Cyclo-cross Masters World Championships, including a 1-2-3 American sweep in two final races Thursday.

Webcast: usacycling.org

TRACK AND FIELD

New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, Feb. 2, Boston

Two-time Olympic medalist Jenn Suhr, a pole vaulter, and Galen Rupp, a 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the men’s 10,000-meter run, will be among the U.S. athletes competing Saturday in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston. Suhr won gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Distance runner Matthew Centrowitz, who finished fourth in the 1,500-meter run at the London 2012 Olympic Games and won the 2011 NCAA title, also is scheduled to compete. Aries Merritt, the 2012 Olympic 110-meter hurdles champion, withdrew from the meet due to an injury.

Despite two goals by Scott Davidson, the USA Men’s National Team lost, 10-6, to Canada on Thursday in its opening match of the UANA World Aquatics Championship Qualifier in Calgary, Alberta.

The United States will play Argentina on Friday night. The tournament semifinals will be held Saturday, followed by the medal round Sunday. The United States needs a second-place finish in order to qualify for the 2013 FINA World Championships.

RUGBY

IRB Women’s Sevens World Series, Houston Sevens, Feb. 1-2, Houston

The U.S. Women’s Eagles Sevens will face Canada, South Africa and Argentina on Friday at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. The action is in the second round of the inaugural IRB Women’s Sevens World Series. The tournament will also have a full day of matches Saturday.

The United States lost their last two meetings against sixth-ranked Canada, and that is the first match it will have Friday.

“They’re the rival, you have to beat them,” U.S. coach Eric Suggitt said.

TV: 2 p.m.-9 p.m. ET Saturday, Universal Sports

Hertz Sevens, Jan. 31-Feb. 2, Wellington, New Zealand

The USA Rugby Men’s Eagles Sevens were to face England and New Zealand on Friday in the Hertz Sevens in Wellington, New Zealand. The tournament continues through Saturday.

The USA Curling High Performance Teams led by Miranda Solem and Korey Dropkin were among four squads Thursday that clinched playoff spots in the USA Curling Junior National Championships in Wayland, Mass. Solem and Cory Christensen’s team are 7-1 and clinched berths in the women’s playoffs, as did Jenna Haag (6-2). Dropkin (7-1) clinched a men’s playoff spot.

The two winning teams in the tournament will be nominated to represent the United States at the World Junior Championships in late February in Sochi, Russia.

SAILING

ISAF World Cup, Jan. 27-Feb. 2, Miami

Paige Railey of the United States won two of three races Thursday and took the lead in the Laser Radials class after the fourth day of the ISAF World Cup in Miami, Fla. Sarah Newberry and John Casey have an 11-point lead in the Nacra 17, having won six of eight races. Fred Strammer and Zach Brown lead the 49er class.

Another round of races among more than 300 elite-level sailors were scheduled for Friday, followed by double-points races Saturday. Competition is being held in the 13 sailing classes that also will be held at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

SYNCHRONIZEDSKATING

French Cup, Feb. 1-2, Rouen, France

The Haydenettes of Lexington/Marlborough, Mass., 20-time U.S. champions, begin their international season this weekend at the French Cup in Rouen, France. The ICE’Kateers of Anaheim, Calif., will also compete in the senior division.

Competing in the junior division will be Team Braemar of Edina, Minn., and the Skyliners of Rye/Monsey/Westchester, N.Y., and Stamford, Conn.

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Paul D. Bowker is a freelance contributor for TeamUSA.org. Material from various news services and press releases from National Governing Bodies was used to compile this report. This story was not subject to the approval of any National Governing Bodies.